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Biggles and the Leopards of Zinn/plot
Chapter 1: Murder--or What? Biggles and friends arrive with their Gadfly amphibian at Lake Jumu. Sergeant Abdullah I'Mobo is supposed to meet them at the government rest house there but he is dead and his body has been torn to shreds as though mauled by a wild animal. But Biggles is convinced it is murder--his rifle and ammunition belt is missing. Chapter 2: An Unusual Assignment Air Commodore Raymond sends Biggles out the land of Zinda on an unusual assignment. In that remote corner of Africa, two colonial officers had died under mysterious circumstances. It may be that they were really killed by wild animals but the Resident Magistrate responsible for the area thinks it might be a gang of leopard men at work. These secret societies of gangsters had been known to terrorise entire native villages in Africa in a kind of protection racket. If leopard men have moved in, this means the Zinns, the local natives, must have something they want, but what? The ground was sterile and poor in game and resources and the Zinns were simple folk who subsisted only on fish. Chapter 3: Unwelcome Visitors Biggles and co. set up base camp at the government rest house beside the lake. There follows the obligatory big-game hunt segment, with Biggles shooting first a crocodile and then a leopard which leapt out of the bushes to attack them. Chapter 4: An Addition to the Party The next morning, Biggles discovers that the carcass of the leopard they shot has disappeared, as it someone had come and lifted it away. Biggles decides to fly to Nabula, the nearest administrative centre, to report the death of Sergeant I'Mobo. On the way, he and Ginger do a recce of the Zinn village. They find it deserted except for an emaciated old man who shows them a curious square hole dug into the ground near the village. Biggles decides to take the old man with them. First, because he might be able to tell them what happened to the Zinns, and second, because there was every chance he might starve to death if left to himself. The old man is enticed on board the Gadfly and flown to the rest house. Chapter 5: Ginger Takes a Walk Biggles and Algy take off for Nabula. Bertie and Ginger hear explosions some distance away. From the behaviour of the old Zinn whom they now call Grandpa, they surmise that someone has been supplying the Zinns with dynamite whichthey now use for fishing. But who are these men and why are they doing this? Ginger talks a walk to find out. He sees the Zinns catching fish in the lake but doesn't see any foreigners. Coming back, however, he sees a party of four men who were not Zinn. One appeared to be a white man, or at least of mixed blood, while the others were clearly natives of another tribe, including one who dressed like a witch doctor. Chapter 6: Trouble Brewing Ginger shadows the party which heads for the rest-house. Reaching it, the leader of the party demands that Bertie hand over Grandpa, who appears terrified of them. Bertie refuses and stands his ground and an armed confrontation appears imminent, forcing Ginger to step in. The party withdraws Chapter 7: Biggles Decides Biggles and Algy return. They have met the safari on the way back to Nabula from the rest-house and passed a note to them for the resident magistrate. In the meantime, they have engaged a retired soldier from the safari named Charlie as an interpreter. Charlie speaks to Grandpa and obtains some backstory as to what had happened to the Zinns. According to Grandpa, two white men had showed up with a witch doctor. They provided the Zinns with dynamite to help them catch more fish but in exchange, the Zinn were made to dig holes in the ground. After a while the men had forced the Zinns to move to another location. Grandpa had did not want to leave and so hid behind. Biggles decides to confront the two men directly and ask what they are doing. Chapter 8: The Night Watch During the night, while on watch with Bertie, Ginger spots a strange shape moving in the resthouse compound where Grandpa and Charlie was sleeping. He then hears Grandpa crying in fear and sensing danger, he shoots at the shape with his shotgun. It turns out to be an intruder who had obviously crept in to murder Grandpa. The assassin is wounded by Ginger's shotgun but manages to escape through a hole in the compound wall. He leaves behind a knife and a leopards paw made into a glove. Now it becomes clear to Biggles how the murders had been made to look like they had been done by wild animals. Chapter 9: Face to Face In the morning, Biggles, Ginger and Charlie walk beyond the Zinn village to where they see there Zinns gathered together digging holes in the ground. Two white men directing the operations. One of them, taller and fairer and with a beard is obviously the leader. The other is darker and was the one who tried to seize Grandpa from Bertie the day before. Their power over the Zinns iss enforced through a group of tall spear-armed natives and a witch doctor. The two white men refuse to tell Biggles what they are doing but Biggles warns them that they are prospecting without a licence besides interfering with the Zinns. He gives them 24 hours to clear out. He then asks Charlie to tell the Zinns that they are free to return to their village. The witch-doctor is not happy to see this going on and moves to attack Charlie but Biggles floors them, tearing off his leopard skin and flailing him with it. This impresses the Zinns who start moving back to their village. Chapter 10: Biggles Goes Hunting Biggles goes hunting for an antelope to feed the Zinns, since it would be too late in the day for them to catch any fish. No chapter on hunting in Africa would be complete without a lion or two and here it is. Biggles also has to shoot a lion because it happened to be stalking the same antelope and goes after Charlie. At day's end, Charlie is detailed to spend the night at the Zinn village. Bertie offers to accompany him. Chapter 11: Shots at Dawn At dawn, thrree shots are heard coming from the Zinn village. Biggles and Ginger rush to the scene, Charie had been attacked and injured by a leopard-man. Bertie had shot into the mist at the retreating attacker and had killed him. While Biggles tends Charlie's wounds, the bearded white man turns up. He introduces himself as Otto Ducard and tells Biggles he has decided to pull out. Ducard gives Biggles the backstory. He had heard from a dying man, a known diamond prospector and smuggler, that there was millions to be had at Lake Jumu. He had difficulty organising an expedition so he teamed up with his partner Akmet Batoun who seemed to have a way with natives. Working through N'Bulu the witch doctor, they had managed to recruit enough porters for the expedition. But Ducard soon got tired of working with Batoun's methods, including the use of the witch doctor to terrorize the Zinns. Moreover, they had been digging for a long time and had not found any diamonds. To Biggles, Ducard seems truthful although he remains sceptical that the partner Batoun would agree with Ducard to pull out so tamely. The rest of the day and the night passes without further incident. Chapter 12: Biggles Cooks Some Dirt Next morning, back at the rest-house, Biggles has an idea. The Zinns had told Charlie that some months ago, a man had come to the lake and had cooked some dirt in a pan. Biggles is reminded about a chemistry experiment he had seen in school. He repeats the procedure and produces a globule of aluminium, thus proving that the ground around the lake is full of bauxite. It wasn't diamonds, as Ducard thought, but still worth millions if not billions. Chapter 13: Murder Most Foul Another day passes. Biggles and Ginger takeoff and overflies Ducard's campsite to confirm that the gang has indeed pulled out. They see the tent has gone but then Ginger spots a body on the ground. It's Ducard--Batoun has shot him because there wasn't enough food for the both of them. With his dying breath he warns that Batoun intends to come back with a larger force to attack Biggles. Just then, Captain Bourgon of the Belgian colonial police shows up with six colonial soldiers. He tells Biggles he has been pursuing Ducard and Batoun, who had been causing trouble among the natives in the Belgian Congo. Biggles tells him what has happened at Lake Jumu but there isn't time to talk too much, for out of the forest emerges a large group native spearmen from the Belgian Congo led by N'Bule and Batoun. Biggles, Bourgon and all their men beat a hasty retreat to the Gadfly amidst a shower of spears. Chapter 14: A Grim Dilemma The Gadfly starts taxying across the lake to the rest-house but Biggles realises the new threat could harm the Zinns so he stops at the village and, with hand signals and the help of Grandpa, manages to communicate the news of the danger. The Zinns take flight and rush to the rest-house where they shelter inside the compound. Meanwhile the policemen take up defensive positions inside the rest-house. The is a tense standoff. N'Bulu begins inciting the spearman so Bourgon takes a shot. The witch-doctor falls while the others quickly dive for cover. Chapter 15: How it Ended The attackers do not make a move for a long time and it appears that they plan to starve out the people in the rest-house. Biggles knows his supplies are limited, especially if he has to feed well over a hundred Zinns now sheltering in the compound, so he sends Algy, who with the Gadfly on the lake, to Nabula to seek instructions and assistance from the resident magistrate there. Algy takes off but soon comes back and puts down on the lake. Is he in trouble? He tries to shout something but this is suddenly drowned by shouting and singing as the Congo spearmen advance to the attack. It looks like a showdown is inevitable but then they suddenly freeze and then retreat. Batoun is seen running away so Biggles, unwilling to let him get away with his crimes, borrows a rifle and shoots him dead. The explanation for the withdrawal of the attackers is soon forthcoming. Lieutenant Lomax arrives with a large force of Askaris--he had been sent by the resident magistrate who had earlier got Biggles' note about the death of Sergeant I'mobo. The crisis is averted and Biggles' job is done so our friends return to England. Back at headquarters, Biggles surprises everyone by announcing that he will not be mentioning the bauxite in his report and that intends to take out a concession for the area around Lake Jumu. But it is not about money. Knowledge of the bauxite is sure to bring heavy industry and development to the place. The way of life of the Zinns would be destroyed. By holding a concession, no one would be allowed to prospect there without his permission and thus the future of the Zinns would be assured. Category:Plot summaries